


Changes

by yellowdagger



Category: Happiest Season (2020)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-16 19:13:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29458785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yellowdagger/pseuds/yellowdagger
Summary: Sloane Caldwell decides to live for herself.
Relationships: Sloane Caldwell/Riley Bennett, Sloane Caldwell/Riley Johnson
Comments: 3
Kudos: 37





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to go with Riley Bennett as her name cuz in my mind it sounds better.  
> Also this is a little disjointed, sorry.  
> All mistakes are mine.

There was a lot about Sloane Caldwell that would surprise the people that claimed to know her the best. She was the epitome of ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ and while her family had obviously been around her as she grew up she quickly learned that Harper was her parents’ favorite, that no matter how successful Sloane was or what she achieved it would never compare to what Harper did even if it wasn’t nearly as impressive and so Sloane begins to wall herself off from them, keeping her life private from her own family and in all reality it’s like they didn’t really know her at all. The only one she shared anything personal with was Jane, the youngest sister and arguably the most forgotten of the three, and out of their entire family Jane knew her the best, she was the only one that got to see Sloane’s softer side and it’s been that way since they were children. 

Sloane kept her dating life largely private, Tipper didn’t really care who she was with, as long as they met her requirement of an upstanding male which generally meant white and coming from money, their personality didn’t really matter and since Sloane wasn’t Harper a man with those two qualities meant that he was good enough for Sloane. Once Sloane goes off to school she doesn’t bother telling them about who she’s seeing and they don’t ask and Sloane has the freedom to explore other aspects of herself. 

Once she gets married to Eric Tipper’s willing to ignore the one way Eric doesn’t meet her quota, stating her disapproval at his gift basket business but once Sloane has children the reality of grandchildren excites her and all of a sudden she’s enthusiastic that he’s around but Ted is clearly annoyed at the fact that Sloane dropped her successful career as a lawyer to go into business with Eric although he never told her that he was proud that she went into law in the first place. Once again, Sloane couldn’t win and the fallout from her divorce with Eric caused more of an issue with her family although the actual divorce was amicable and friendly. She knew it would be an issue, which is why she hid it for so long, and after it came out she decided then and there that she was going to stop vying for her parents approval since she knew that she would never be put on the same level as Harper. 

So Sloane makes her cold, calculated and sometimes harsh demeanor the only part of her that most of her family sees. She’s intense, impossible to read and almost as impossible to get anything out of and she carries herself with an air of cool disinterest to those around her as if she’s unbothered by anything they say or do. She’s always been succinct in the way she speaks, her tone direct and leaving no room for arguments and her eyes remain unwaveringly steady, perpetually appraising whomever she’s talking to. She demands attention yet waves it off easily, standing tall no matter who’s around and it seems as if she’s largely unconcerned with anything that doesn’t involve her directly. She feels most comfortable in that role, and only a very few people see the real side of her, the side she reserves for those that truly care about her and those people take who she is in stride, loving her for who she really is and not who she pretends to be around her family. Her circle is small but important, consisting of her twins of course, who are always excited to see her and sad when they have to leave, Jane, who’s she’d grown close to since they were often brushed aside for Harper although Jane still goes through life with an infallible positivity that makes Sloane smile, a few select friends from work and now her girlfriend, doctor Riley Bennett. 

And who could’ve seen that coming?

It seemed strange, but Sloane felt that Riley understood what she was about almost immediately, she wasn’t put off by Sloane’s cold personality and it wasn’t long before Riley smirked and grinned her way through Sloane’s unwelcoming persona and Sloane found herself slowly succumbing to the doctor’s wits, resisting her pull for as long as she could knowing how dangerous it was. They had reconnected over social media after the situation that was the last Christmas party, Riley sending her a message to ‘check in on her’ and Sloane, who had always had a soft spot for the doctor responds to her message and before she knows it they’re meeting up for drinks and dinner. It’s an uncontrollable spiral from there and it’s not long before they’re falling into bed together regularly and no matter how hard Sloane tries to convince herself otherwise her feelings for the doctor are growing and Riley becomes privy to the side of Sloane that so few people get to witness which only adds credence to their growing closeness. 

There was a security that Sloane felt with Riley Bennett that Sloane had never felt with anyone else before and Sloane lets her in, trusting her with her heart, a risky move but something that Sloane hopes won’t come back to bite her. Sloane discovers a whole new sexual side to herself, one that enjoys giving just as much as receiving and she feels that she can finally be herself and she feels that the judgement she’ll face from her family over her new relationship won’t matter to her because she’s happy. 

To the untrained eye, nothing has changed. She still carries herself with an air of disinterest, her gaze hard and her mouth set in her familiar scowl, but to anyone familiar with her mannerisms it was clear that there was something different in the way she was with Jane and Riley. She seemed genuinely interested in the things they had to say or show her, she wasn’t bothered when they tended to gravitate to her in unfamiliar social settings, and she was clearly much warmer and welcoming to the two of them. But there was something more intimate in the way she interacted with Riley, and while it took her a while Harper eventually noticed it, noticed how her eyes softened when they would make eye contact or when she would even look at her, noticed how her voice was gentler when she spoke to Riley or about her, how relaxed she seemed in her presence, how she angled her body towards her, how she would reach for her as if she was just making sure that she was there. 

Harper knows there’s something weird going on between them and she accusatorily brings it up over dinner one day but Sloane doesn’t get defensive or shy away from the question, instead she meets Harper’s glare head on, her eyes steady and defiant, a self-assured smirk on her face as she confirms that yes, not only are her and Riley friends now but they’re also romantically involved. She relishes in the myriad of emotions that cross both Harper and Tippers faces, astonishment, confusion, anger, horror and a touch of jealousy for Harper specifically and Sloane waits patiently for the inevitable fallout. 

She’s not going to deny the resulting freak out is satisfying. 

It was a testament to just how much Sloane has changed that she’s unfazed by the yelling and the accusations that Sloane was targeting Harper and she doesn’t feel the need to match their energy. She doesn’t try to bring Harper down with her nor does she try to deflect the attention away from herself, she waits for them to demand an explanation from her and then very calmly and concisely explains the circumstances of their coupling and while she explains Jane comes to her defense and Sloane really doesn’t care whether they understand or accept it, she knows for a fact they won’t do either so she efficiently makes her point and leaves it at that as Harper cries and Tipper rages. Their opinions and thoughts about her personal life stopped mattering after her divorce, after seeing the disapproval that came with it, after knowing that there was nothing she could do to gain their approval and so now she was living for herself and her children and Riley was a huge part of that. 

When she tells them that, she watches how it affects Tipper and Ted. She’s done with the unwinnable competition between her and Harper, she wants to be happy and so she’s going to be. She shrugs casually and gives Jane a soft smile as a thanks for having her back and she leaves the family dinner shortly after that, knowing that this was going to be the topic of discussion for the rest of the night and she doesn’t want to hear about how she has disappointed them and hurt Harper because she’s been hearing that her entire life and she’s done.  
Sloane Caldwell is in love with Riley Bennett and nothing her family does or says will change that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, it's more of this.

Sloane Caldwell watches the two women interact from across the hotel bar, her sharp blue eyes laser focused on Riley as she smiles at the leggy blonde whose been flirting with her for the past ten minutes. Riley had gone over to the bar to get another drink and had gotten distracted as the woman sidled up to her and she’s been there ever since, smiling every time the woman laughs at whatever she was saying as Riley sips her drink. Sloane was sure that her intense glare would’ve normally raised the suspicions of the other two people with her if they weren’t already drunk, bordering on wasted, but she couldn’t bring herself to care, she was teetering on the edge of turning away and letting Riley continue to flirt with the woman since they technically weren’t exclusive since Sloane was determined to keep it casual or storming over there and staking her claim over the doctor, and she carefully weighs the repercussions of both options. 

They had successfully kept their sexual relationship hidden from those around them and at the beginning they both agreed that keeping it private was for the best. It was supposed to be purely sexual, a matter of convenience since they lived close to each other and knew one other well enough for them to be comfortable but almost immediately they both notice that their supposed-to-be purely sexual relationship had a lot of intimacy and friendship interposed in it. Sloane resisted the more platonic side of their relationship as hard as she could but there was an inexplicable pull between them, there always had been and Sloane couldn’t ignore it any longer, especially now that they were sleeping together. She realized, much too late, that she enjoyed Riley’s company platonically just as much as she enjoyed her in bed and their sexual relationship quickly evolves into a more well-rounded relationship.

The feelings between them continue to grow and soon they’re impossible to ignore, the tension between them too thick and Sloane knew Riley felt it too, she could tell by her intense, purposeful looks and Sloane knows she’s in trouble, knows that this has spiraled out of her control and that she now has an important choice to make. It was a choice she had been contemplating for quite some time and now faced with the task of making that choice she immediately knew what she had too do. The relationship between Riley Bennett and Sloane Caldwell had never been casual no matter how hard they tried to convince themselves otherwise. 

So she stares down the woman flirting with Riley, leaning into her, touching her arm, laughing with her and Sloane feels an unfamiliar emotion welling up inside her, one she’s felt very few times in her life but recognizes immediately and jealously simmers just below the surface until Abby and John stumble over, loudly appreciating the physique of Riley’s new friend, the sound of them cheering her on luckily drowned out by the loudness of the bar and the jealously boils over as they nudge Sloane to direct her attention to the scene at the bar, as if she can’t see the display going on right in front of her face. Sloane downs the rest of her drink, feeling the sting of it as she swallows it down before slamming her glass back onto the table, sliding off her stool and making her way over to the two giggling women. 

She’s fully aware of what she’s doing, of who will see it and the questions that will come along with it but she’s well past the point of caring. She can feel Abby and John’s confused stares burning into her back as she finally reaches her destination, standing off to the side of the two women, her eyes trained solely on Riley, who meets Sloane’s gaze with her own challenging look. The loud sound of the bar fades away around them and Sloane can hear the woman Riley was talking to object to the intrusion but neither Sloane or Riley pay her any attention and Sloane can’t focus on anything but Riley as she accepts her challenge, wrapping her hand around Riley’s wrist and pulling her away from the stranger and leading her through the bar to the hotel elevators. 

They don’t talk as they ride the elevator up to their floor and since they reach Riley’s room first they stop there, Riley quickly opening the door and letting them in before locking it behind them. Riley turns to face Sloane, who’s waiting at the foot of her bed impatiently and Riley walks right up to her, Sloane meeting her intensity by bringing their lips together. They fall onto the bed in a familiar rush of heavy touches and hot kisses and no meaningful words are spoken between them as they quickly rid each other of their clothes and press their bodies together in a familiar dance. They spend the rest of the night tangled up in each other and neither of them make any move to separate themselves as they fall asleep in the early hours of the morning, both of them spent. 

Sloane’s fully expecting to hear a knock on the door a few hours later, but she was surprised it was so early. Riley, who Sloane had come to learn was a heavy sleeper didn’t stir at the noise or when Sloane slips out of bed, pulling the sheets up so Riley’s covered and she throws on a robe, checking the peephole before opening the door to find Abby and John on the other side. It’s clear that they’re surprised to see her since this was Riley’s room and they just wanted to make sure that she was okay since she didn’t answer any of Abby’s texts last night and Sloane lets them into the room so they’re not standing in the hall awkwardly questioning her and they see Riley sleeping soundly on her bed. Sloane can’t keep the amusement off her face as Abby’s face reddens and she starts stammering, looking between Sloane and the doctor sleeping on the bed before John finally begins to pull a confused, stunned Abby out of the room. He directs a pointed look at Sloane, telling her that all four of them will be getting brunch that afternoon and that he expects a detailed explanation of how this transpired. 

Sloane chuckles and nods, closing the door as they make their way back to their room and removes the robe before getting back into bed next to an undisturbed Riley. They’ll need to have a talk before brunch in which Sloane will finally make her stance on their relationship clear, but for now she’s content to press her body against Riley’s and let her deep, steading breathing lull her back to sleep.


End file.
